Pleater hook for drapes



,` May 15, 1951` R. E. ANDREOU 2,552,922

PLEATER HOOK FOR DRAPES Filed Sept. 27, 1948 INVENTOR.

BQQmLwa/lm Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES iATENT OFFICE PLEATER HOGE. FOR DBAPES Rubie E. Andreoli, South Bend, Ind.

Application September 27, 1948, Serial No. 51,379

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to pleater hooks for drapes and particularly to a hook adapted to be mounted upon a traverse rod for movement therealong and cooperating with like hooks to support pull type drapes for adjustment between a :closed position completely spanning a window er other opening and an open or partly open position relative to said window or opening.

The use of pull type drapes mounted upon traverse rods has become quite extensive. The common practice in the manufacture of such drapes is to use a `number of pleater hooks on each drape, which hooks are attached to the drape at each pleated portion thereof by sewing or stitching. The drapes are usually lined, are of large size, and therefore are quite heavy. The full weight of the drape is usually sustained by the rod and is transmitted to the rod by the hooks. This necessitates a lrm support and connection between the drape and the hooks. Furthermore, a proper decorative appearance can be secured only when the upper marginal portion of the drape is held substantially vertical so that drooping or sagging of the upper or header portion of the drape is avoided. This usually is accomplished by providing a hook with an elongated drape-engaging portion to which the drape is connected at vertically spaced points by stitching as above mentioned.

Drapes mounted upon such hooks provide an attractive appearance and are securely supported; however, the stitching or sewing required consumes a large amount of time and must be done by hand, which makes such drapes quite expensive; also the sewing or stitching interferes with the cleaning of the drape. Thus if pleater hooks are not removed preparatory to cleaning` the drapes, the drapes cannot be cleaned efficiently, electively or uniformly. Proper cleaning of the drapes has required that they be extended to at form, thus necessitating removal of hooks and ripping of the stitching which holds the pleats in shape and connects the hooks to the drape. The removal of the sewn connection of the hooks and loi the pleat-forming stitches before cleaning and the resewing thereof after cleaning is laborious, time consuming and inconvenient.

Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a hook which will overcome these objections and eliminate the necessity for sewn connection of the hook with the drape.

A further object is to provide a hook which is readily attachable to and removable from a 2 drape, which does not require sewn or stitched connection to the drape, and which serves to hold the drape in desired pleated shape and also serves to hold the header margin oi the drape in erect, taut or stretched position.

A further object is to provide a pleater hook with means which pierce or penetrate the drape to eiect a supporting and positioning connection therewith and which afford ready detachment oi the hook from the drape and reapplication of the hook to the drape without damaging the drape.

Other objects will be apparent from the following specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a rear perspective View illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front perspective View of the hook.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a pin element forming a part of the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a rear perspective View of another embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 5 is a front perspective view of the emr tocument illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on line i-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a transverse sectional view of a drape taken at the part thereof engaged by the upper prongs of the hooks.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of the drape at the part thereof engaged by the clamp.

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the arrangement of the parts with respect to the drape at the part thereof engaged by the in illustrated in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing which illustrates the preferred embodiments of the invention, and particularly to Figs. l to 3 which illustrate one ernbodirnent, the numeral lil designates an elongated at plate-like portion of the hook which is formed from rigid metal strap material or from any other material found suitable, such as plastic material having the requisite strength. The portion I0 forms one end portion only of said strap which is return bent at I2, preferably with the bend of small radius as shown and with which merges an upwardly return bent portion M spaced rearwardly from the portion l0 and extending for only a portion of the height thereof. The strap is bent at I5 to provide a rearwardly upwardly inclined portion I8 and is again bent at 26 to provide a rearwardly downwardly inclined portion 22, and is again bent at 24 to provide a forwardly downwardly inclined terminal portion 26 whose terminal edge preferably terminates at substantially the same level as or opposite to and spaced from the bend I6. The hook portions i8, E2 and 25 conform with the shape of standard hooks now conventionally used and are constructed and adapted to engage and be connected with slide members (not shown) which are mounted upon a horizontal supporting rod or bar (not shown) said slide members being connected with cords or other means extending along the rod or bar which may be pulled to cause the slides to traverse the rod or bar.

Two or more prongs 2&3 are xedly secured to tion, and the spacing of the tip portion thereof from the plate IB is preferably equal to or slightly greater than the thickness of the drape at the header portion 3i] thereof.

YA clampmernber is mounted upon the hook part I to slide lengthwise thereof. This clamp member is preferably formed from a metal bar whose 'central portion 32 has a sliding face engagement with the rear face of the member i9. From the opposite ends of this central portion 32 the bar is return bent at 34 to provide short flat Y plate portions 36 which bear against or lie substantially parallel to the front face of the member IIJ. The inner ends of the members 36 terminate in spaced relation to each other, and the terminal portions or jaws 38 of the clamp project horizontally forwardly in substantially parallel relation and lie in substantially vertical planes. The spacing of the clamp jaws 38 is preferably slightly less than the thickness of a predeter- I mined number of folds or thicknesses of the drape header, as will be explained more fully hereinafter. VFor use in conjunctionV withV the hook and forming a part of the hook unit or assembly in usage is provided a pin, for example, a pin of the character illustrated in Fig. 3. This pin preferably comprises a `base in the nature of a ilat plate 40 to which is xedly secured at one end an elongated resilient'pin portion 42V having arun 44 substantially parallel to and spaced from the plate 4i) and pointed at its free end. A socket 46 Yis carried by the plate 4l) at the end thereof opposite thatto which the` pin portion 42 is secured, and this socket is adapted toV releasably secure or retain the free pointed end of the portion 44 of the pin. VThe device in effect thus constitutes a unitV somewhat similar to a conventional safety pin which can be locked by engagement of the free end of the pin portion 44 within the socket 46 and which can be released by eXing the pin portion 44 to disengage the socket 46.`

In the use of the pleater hook the header portion 30 of the draperis folded to the desired pleated fornnfor example as illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, wherein three pleats are shown. After these pleats have been formed, the pin 40, 4B is Piirst secured to the drape at the lower end of the header portion thereof as shown in Fig. 9, spaced below the top edge of the drape, the pin 4l! being spicuous manner, permitting the forwardly pro- Y jecting portions of the pleats to assume a natural pleated shape. Thereupon the lower portion Yof the hook member, i. e., parts Il) and I4, is

inserted and slid into position between the backing plate 4B and the drape material impaledV Y by the pin 44 to a position with the top edge of the portion H3 of the hook spaced below the top edge of the drape a distance slightly greater than the spacing between the top edge of the portion I0 and the lower terminal portions of the pins 28 at which said pins are secured to said plate. The clamp 32, 38 is then slid along the part Ill of the hook to a position with its bottom edge adjacent to or substantially bearing upon the pin 44, and the jaws 33 of the clamp are then engaged with the pleated portion of the drape. In instances where three pleats have been folded, as illustrated in Fig. 8, the jaws 38 will enter the outermost folds from the rear thereof to clamp between them both thicknesses of the center fold or pleat and the inner thickness of the tw'o'router pleats. This serves to pinch the pleats together in a manner to hold them substantially in parallel planes projecting perpendicular to the plane of the drape and of the hook portion l0. It willV thus be seen that the pin 4B, 45 holds the inner parts of the pleats together, preferably at the lower part of the header portion of the drape, while the adjacent clamp jaws 38 shape the pleats and cause them to be pinched together spaced below their top edges. Thereupon the points of the prongs 28 are caused to impale the drape material adjacent its upper edge at points spaced laterally outwardly from the pleats and lying close to the inner parts of the pleats, and the hook unit as a whole, including plate portion lll,

is then moved upwardly relative to the pin 40'-46 and to the clamp 32H38 to effect a rm connection of the hook with the upper edge portion of the drape. prongs are exposed at the front surface of the drape extending parallel to the pleats thereof and serve as the primary means for supporting the weight of thedrape. Inasmuch as the prongs are of short length and extend parallel to the pleats alongside the folds thereof, the pleats are held atV their inner portions in substantially the plane of the drape, but at their forward projectingvportions the pleats are free to assume a naturalV drape and of permitting the pleatsthereof to asf sume attractive and desirable shapes; At points spaced below their upper edges the pleats are held together againstlateral displacement and are pinched together as effectively Vas ifa line of stitching was employed extending transversely of the pleats from their base to a point adjacent their outer edge or crown. Above and below this pinched point the pleats are permitted to Vtaper It will be observed that theY or -fiare laterally. Therefore the :pleats at ythe header portion of the drape yassume a graceful and attractive shape. `The lower-por-tion .of the drape-is -free to fallin graceful naturaliolds from each pleat. v'The header portion of fthe drape is thus held erect .and in a stretched or tensioned condition because of the -fact that the `weight of -thedrape is `taken lby the prongs 28. A friction t exists between the par-ts lit-lll lof` the hooks and the pin structureAt'D--d which nts `around Ithe hook. Furthermore, it will be evident that if the clamp portion 32-38 is positioned to bear against the pin portion l44,` the clamp engagement of the jaws 3B with the cloth of the-drape will held thedrape header against creeping upwardly upon the hook. I-n -other words, the clamping action of the jaw v38 gripping fthe-cloth will be sufficient to constitute such clamp -a stop which, when engaged by the pin 4t2-46, will limit any tendency of the portion of the drape between the prongs 28 and the pin `lil- 4t to wrinkle or creep upwardly. This prevents a loose sagging appearance of the drape header portion.

It will be understood that the hook-will be supported bythe conventional slides mounted -upon a traverse `rod or bar in the conventional manner to transmit to said Abar theweig'ht of the portions of the drape engaged thereby. The engagement of the hooks and the drape is not xed, will be evident, and may readily ybe released. Thus when it is desired to remove the hooks from the drape for Ythe purpose of cleaning or repairing the drape, itis Vmerely necessary to disconnect the hooks from the slides upon the traverse rod and thenmanipulate the hooks with reference to the drape to free` the prongs 28 from the drape to pull the drape from engagement with the clamp `jaws 28 and to release the pin 11S-4E. Thereupon thedrape materia1 may be laid flat for cleaning and pressing purposes. Reassembly of the parts can `then be `effected in the same manner of original assembly mentioned above.

While the use of the pin unit 411- is preferred, in order to insure the stretched `or -tensioned portion of the `header `portieri ofthe drape in the vertical direction and` to insure that the inner portions of the pleats are `held together .below the` clamp, there may be instances in which the weight of the drape suspended from the ,upper prongs 28 is sufficient to insure a tensioned or taut header and wherein the pinched yor indrawn arrangement of all of the pleats adjacent and below the clamp is not desired. In such cases it will be understood` that the use of the pin 411--45 may be dispensed Wit-1r and 4entirereliance placed upon the prongs 28 and the clamp 32-38 for the purpose of both supporting and positioning or controlling the folds of the pleats. This would be particularly true in cases where it is desired to have the pleats assume a rearwardly projecting position with respect to the general plane of the drape between the adjacent sets of pleats as distinguished from the form as illustrated in these figures which will cause the pleats to project forwardly from the general plane of the drape as will be apparent.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 wherein the hook construction is substantially the same as that described above and similar parts bear the same reference numerals. The essential difference in this form of the hook resides in the fact that the prongs 2S of the preceding embodiment are omitted. In this form, however, an aligned series of longitudinally spaced offsets, apertures or in- 6 dentations f5'0 is formed inthe upper `end portion of the hook part I0 as illustrated. Adjacent the lower end ofthe hook portion Il) are xedly secured two or more impaling members 52 which project forwardly and downwardly with their pointed end portions spaced from the adjacent face of the part 1:0 and preferably terminating at or adjacent the level ofthe bend .1.2. A bracket, preferably comprising a rigid plate bent to the shape illustrated, is lslidable longitudinally .upon the part til. This bracket has aback plate 54 and a pair of forwardly return bent face portions `56 which are preferably spaced apart at their inner edges so as to pass clear of the -indentations 543 of the member l0 `as the bracket `is slid longitudinally vupon the part lll. An indentation or projection 58 is formed in the plate portion 54 in la position to register with and seat in any selected one of the longitudinally aligned indentations 5i), thereby permitting accurate :positioning of this bracket lengthwise of the 4part l0. Each of the -front plates 516 of the bracket xedly mounts a pin` or impaling member `6B which is'xedly anchored thereto at one end and projects upwardly therefrom 'with its pointed end portion spaced forwardly from the flat plates .56.

This embodiment of the invention also includes the clamp 32-38 similar to that util-ized in vthe Fig. l embodiment. In the mounting or application of this embodiment of the invention to or upon a drape, the prongs 5,2 are first caused to pierce the drape material adjacent and alongside the outermost folds or pleats thereof,` -at -a level spaced below the upper margin thereof. Thereupon the bracket 5ft-6!) is slid along the member lil to a position slightly below the upper margin of the drape at whichit is desired that the upper part of the d rape shall be supported and the prongs 60 are ycausedjto pierce the drape adjacent and alongside the outermost folds or pleats thereof. Thereupon the bracket as a whole is urged upwardly until the same reaches a pOsition at whichV the drape vmaterial bears against the base of the pin and the header portion Aof the drape is stretched vertically. At this position the upward movement of the bracket is stopped at a point where the projection 58 seats within one of the indentations 50 and thereby serves to lock the bracket against downwardV movement. The clamp 32-...33 -is applied Vto the drape to ,pinchV the folds thereof together, as shown in Fig. 8, slightly above the portion of the `drape engaged by the impaling pins .52. Clamp .32--3;3 may be applied to its desired clamping `or pinching position prior to the manipulation of the bracket 5.4-60 to impale the upper marginiof lthe drape.

In this deviceiit 'will *be` apparent that the same advantages are achieved as in the preferred embodiment. The adjustability of the bracket 54-60 in this case, however, permits the positive application of stretching tension to the header portion of the drape to assure that said header portion will be stretched effectively to maintain a trim and erect position. The impaling members 52 and 60 of this form lie alongside the inner portions of the outermost pleats or folds, and said pleats are free to expand laterally to conceal said impaling members. The clamping members 32--38, being applied from the rear, are completely concealed. This embodiment of the invention also possesses the same advantage of ready disconnection of the hooks from the drape `for cleaning or repairing of the drape which characterizes the other embodiment of the invention,V and the same ready reattachment of the hooks to the drape.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, it will be understood that changes may be made in the .construction thereof within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A pleater hook adapted to suspend a drape at a header portion thereof having multiple vertical pleats, comprising a rigid member having a support-engaging hook portion and an elongated upright portion, the hook portion of said rigid member including a substantially uprightV portion projecting upwardly from the lower end of said first named upright portion in adjacent rearwardly spaced relation thereto, a clamp carried by said upright portion and including a pair of jaws adapted to be inserted in said pleats at the rear of the drape to grip the same and hold said pleats in face engagement, and impaling means carried by said upright portion spaced above said clamp and adapted to pierce and support the upper marginal portion of said drape adjacent and alongside said pleats, said impaling means including a base portion, a resiliently elongated pin portion carried by one end of said base portion, and a pin-retaining socket car- Y ried by the other end of said base portion, said pin being adapted to pierce the inner portions of the pleats of a drape and to hold the same gathered together when said pin portion is seated in saidV socket, said upright portions of said rigid member being insertable between the base and pin portions of said impaling means.

2. A pleater hook adapted to suspend a drape at a header portion thereof having multiple vertical pleats, comprising a rigid member having a support-engaging hook portionA terminating in a substantially `vertical shank from which an upwardly extending substantially vertical return bent upright portion projects, a clasp adapted to detachably secure together the inner parts of said Ydrape pleats at a level spaced below the upper edge of said drape, said clasp having a pair of spaced parts and adapted to embrace said shank and upwardly projecting portions of said rigid member, impaling prongs carried by the upper end portion Vof said upright portion and adapted to pierce and support said drape at the upper margin thereof alongside said pleats and a clamp carried by said upright portion and including a pair of jaws adapted to grip portions of said pleats at the rear thereof, said clamp forming a stop above said clasp and engaged thereby to limit upward creeping and `wrinkling Y of the portion of said drape between said clasp and prongs.

3. A pleater hook adapted to suspend a drape at a header portion thereof having multiple vertical pleats, comprising a rigid member having a support-engaging hook portion terminating in a substantially vertical shank from which an upwardly extending substantially vertical return bent upright portion projects, prongs carried by and projecting upwardly fromV the upper end portion of said upright portion adapted to supportingly impale the upper margin of a drape alongside said pleats, a clamp carried by said upright portion and including jaws adapted to be inserted into said pleats from the rear thereof to clamp the same together, and impaling means below said clamp adapted to transversely pierce andV draw together the inner portions of said pleats, said impaling means including a pair of spaced parts receiving therebetween the shank portion and upright portion of said rigid member.

4. A pleater hook adapted to suspend a drape at a header portion thereof having multiple vertical pleats, comprising a rigid member having a support-engaging hook portion and an elongated upright portion rearwardly upwardly return bent from the lower end of said hook portion, a clamp carried by said upright portion and including a pair of jaws adapted to be inserted in said pleats at the rear of said Ydrape to grip the same and hold said pleats in face engagement, impaling means carried by said upright portion spaced above said clamp and adapted to pierce and support the upper marginal portion of said drape adjacent and alongside said pleats, and a safety `pin including spaced portions and a locking socket, said safety pinbeing adapted to gather the inner portions of the pleats of aV drape and to receive the upright and return bent portions of said rigid member between its spaced portions. l

RUBIE E. ANDREOU.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

Y UNITED STATES PATENTS 

